Finland Times

The Finnish Immigration Service has dismissed the first application made by an Afghan asylum seeker from Russia, on the ground that Russia is a safe country for an asylum seeker, said Juha Simila, head of the Immigration Service's Asylum Unit.

Simila told STT that if an applicant has received international protection granted by Russia or otherwise sufficient protection, his or her asylum application will be rejected in Finland.

In practice, this also means that the person has been granted a residence permit in Russia or a equivalent status, Simila explained.

He said most of the pending cases currently are such that asylum seekers have been legal residents in Russia for many years and they have a residence permit or they will have an equivalent status in the future.

However, Simila pointed out that an asylum decision is not automatic, even if a residence permit would be valid in Russia.

An applicant's review can include reasons, for example, Russia is not a safe country for him or her or the applicant faces a risk of deportation, he added.

In the past few months, nearly 1,000 asylum seekers crossed the Finnish-Russian border to enter Finland without a Schengen visa. The Finnish Border Guard estimated that number will rise to 7,500 in 2016.

Simila attributed the situation to the economic downturn in Russia, saying the gloomy Russian economy, which has created more challenges to find a livelihood, drove people on the move to find a better life.